One of our readers, Mohamad, pointed us to a thread at nissan-arabia.com, showcasing photos of a consignment of seven American-spec 2008 Nissan GT-R models which have made their way to Abu Dhabi for local customers who can’t wait till next year’s release of a GCC-spec version. The same reader also spotted a GT-R at a Nissan workshop in Dubai, probably used for technician training. Yet another reader, Don, spotted the all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima trundling around at a freezone in Dubai, which is the first real confirmation that the new Maxima is indeed coming to the GCC. Read more… »

I figured I should go over Dubai’s heavily-hyped hybrid taxis a bit more, considering the general media is happy just reprinting press releases. Operated by the much-loved Road & Transport Authority (RTA), the cars — five Chevy Malibu Hybrids and five Chevy Tahoes Hybrids — are beginning their one-year trial to see if they survive the Middle Eastern heat and whether they actually save any fuel in this publicity stunt. Read more… »

Dubai’s Road & Transport Authority (RTA) has, over the last few weeks, come up with various ideas that they are going to implement over the coming months. Some of these ideas seem to be confidential in nature, but Gulf News somehow always gets their hands on official sources. Read more… »

If you are into aftermarket automotive equipment shows, there is the Automechanika Middle East trade show in Dubai, already running from June 1 to 3 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, events are taken to the next level by the Turbo tuner show in Abu Dhabi, to be held from November 13 to 15 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. Read more… »

TAG Heuer just signed up local hero Mohammed Bin Sulayem to endorse their watches in print ads. The interesting bit is that Sulayem said he will donate all the money he makes from the deal to charity.

Around town, unregulated diesel prices have gone up to Dhs 17 per gallon in Dubai, and expected to go higher. Meanwhile, ADNOC in Abu Dhabi continues to sell diesel at Dhs 8.6 per gallon.

In other news, in an attempt to appear commuter-friendly, Dubai’s RTA has announced that they will “allow” people to carry passengers to work or wherever, provided they apply on the RTA website for a certificate registering the names of a maximum of four people that they want to carry in their cars. If you are caught without such a certificate, and the passengers are not your frigging relatives, you’ll be fined Dhs 5000.

And now, some more entertainment, courtesy of Dubai taxi drivers. A taxi driver became so angry when his female passenger asked him to go in a different direction during the journey that he stopped, dragged her from his cab, hit her and stole her mobile phone. Apparently he was going the long way round and the Filipina asked him to take a certain shorter route. When she tried to call the police, he took her phone and drove off. The loser cabbie is now in court, but many say this is becoming a common occurence in Dubai. Read more… »

Nissan has created a worldwide competitive driving test, called the GT Academy, for PS3-addicted GT5 gamers. The eight-month, pan-European competition sees “virtual and real-life racing merge to make the wildest dreams of two aspiring race drivers come true.” The prize is a four-month training programme to earn racing licences, followed by a real-life race driving a Nissan 350Z as part of the Nissan team at the 24H endurance race in Dubai in January 2009. Read more… »

At the latest “Code 5″ number-plate auction in Abu Dhabi, plate number 9 has become the third most expensive number plate in the world, at Dhs 15.4 million (US$ 4.2 million). Bought by a modest Abu Dhabi businessman who did not wish to be named, he purchased the number at the charity auction held on Saturday evening at the Emirates Palace. Read more… »

Just when poor old VW thought they held the crown for world’s fastest car after a decade of near-bankruptcy-causing development, a whole host of smaller companies outdid them to the title. Joining the ranks of Saleen, SSC, Koenigsegg and Ultima is an unknown Swiss manufacturer called Weber Sportcars, claiming to have built the world’s fastest street-legal car. It is called the “WEBER SPORTCARS faster one,” if you can believe that. Read more… »

Auto accessories superstore Yellow Hat is giving away tickets to the finale of the five-round Grand Racing season, which is taking place on April 11 and 12 this month at the Dubai Autodrome. All customers who buy Dhs 100 worth of products from their Times Square Mall store will receive an invite to the Grand Dubai Racing Event. Read more… »

Volkswagen is recalling some 410,000 Passat sedans sold in the United States due to possible problems with heat shields and fuel line components. That includes every Passat sold in America from 1999 to 2005 model years. That has to be some kind of new recall record for a single model. Read more… »

German Auto Zeitung magazine snagged some spy photos of the upcoming 2009 BMW 7-Series. The new model seems to be going back to basics in terms of design, and looks production-ready already. Read more… »

Abu Dhabi Police has obtained a marked-and-outfitted Nissan Xterra for use as a police patrol vehicle. No word on how many will be joining the police fleet, although the current Pathfinder has already been on duty in AD for a while now, alongside other less-reliable brethen such as the Dodge Charger, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the VW GTI. Read more… »

Organisers CMPi have revealed what is set to be the region’s premier tuning and custom car and bike show, TURBO: For A Custom Nation. Debuting at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre between 10th and 12th of October (update: postponed to November 13-15) the show will be apparently be packed with stunning vehicles from the world’s most famous and fastest tuners and feature some of the best customised cars exclusively brought in for TURBO. Read more… »

Naming a car after a natural disaster is never a good idea. It gives people like me a chance to come up with cheesy titles for articles. But I did take our recent Chevy Avalanche Z71 tester up and down the Jebel Hafeet mountain road. Considering it was a family picnic, I did not try to beat any records that I might have set with the Bentley. But it gave me the opportunity to try out some smooth driving techniques with a vehicle that has more body roll than the sinking Titanic. Read more… »

Gulf News reported that UAE residents will soon be able to obtain driving licences from any emirate regardless of their residence visa, although this was supposed to happen on March 1 with the Federal Traffic Law. We hear it will happen in April. Read more… »

The top breaking news story for tonight is that UK-based parent company Aston Martin, newly independent from Ford, is being sued for US$50 million by its Dubai-based Middle East distributors because of an apparent breach of contract. The lawsuit, filed by Middle East Aston Martin (MEAM), claims one of the new owners of the carmaker, Kuwaiti investment group DAR, is planning to refinance its stake in the company (whatever that means) and has disallowed the distributor to renew its investment, according to Reuters news agency. Read more… »

Anytime people in the UAE shop for vehicles in places such as Abu Shagara in Sharjah or Aweer in Dubai, there is a chance that the imported used car they are purchasing something stolen in another country. This place itself has become popular around the world as a shipping destination for stolen cars headed for Africa and Russia. It is good to know that Dubai Customs has been cracking down on this shadowy trade for a couple of years now. Read more… »

UAE-based newspaper Gulf News conducted a survey to determine the types of transportation that people in the UAE use. Among the results, the most revealing is that 85% of the people who answered the survey have been refused a taxi journey based on their choice of destination, although there probably is more to those numbers than the newspaper is ready to admit. 15% are happy with the taxi service? Read more… »

In the early hours of March 11, an accidental chain reaction caused a massive pile-up in Abu Dhabi. Eight people died in the accident that involved as many as 200 vehicles on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway. Thirty-nine people were injured in this unprecedented accident that caused 92 vehicles to catch fire. The cause of the accident was heavy fog and, of course, speeding drivers.

Update: Latest reports suggest 60 cars, 3 dead and 350 injured. Read more… »

These are the latest additions to the New Car Buyer Guide. As usual, prices are a bit iffy, especially since they differ from city to city, and keep changing daily. Everything else should be in order, and more updates will follow later. Available information on some cars are limited, so do not hound me for any mistakes that might crop up, but do let me know so I can correct them. If the updates are not visible in your Internet Explorer browser, then press and hold CTRL, and CLICK on Refresh in the browser. And if you can’t figure out that instruction, you probably work for VW, and I don’t want to hear from you.

Lincoln - MKX, MKZ (correct prices)
Peugeot - 308
Hummer - H2. H3
Ferrari - F430 Scuderia (info update)
BMW - M3 (info update)
Bentley - Azure, Brooklands
Mazda - 6, CX-9 (correct prices)
Mercury - Montego, Mariner

Read more… »